One Foot In The Grave
by Gamerlord
Summary: Cast aside by his family into an abusive home, Harry latches onto his two saviors - a centuries old ghost and unsociable Potions Master. Now, confronted by the wizarding world and his 'true family' Harry must choose between the magic of the 'Light' and the magic of the 'Dark' - or find his own path. HP/HR/AG/GD
1. Chapter 1 - Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I own neither the world or the characters - with the exception of OCs - since all that belongs to JK Rowling. Thank you for reading and feel free to review in order to yell at me about how bad it is and tell me about the fragments you think are maybe-possibly-might be good!

**Summary**

Many thanks to Noodlehammer for writing Reaching for a Dream, which helped inspired this story. The other inspiration for this is my love of detailed necromancy in stories, games, etc. A few basic features of this:

- Living Lily/James, different BWL.  
- Dumbledore/Potter/Weasley bashing.  
- No **main character **slash. I may include it for supporting characters.  
- I will be adding a couple of features to Hogwarts that I think are sorely needed. *cough*caves*cough*  
- Necromancy/Demonic Magic. These will be plot points and will be both detailed and quite graphic. Have to earn that M rating after all.  
- Smart, powerful, (possibly godlike later on) Harry.  
- Harry with at least two girls, possibly up to four, but that's only in the direst situation.  
- Ravenclaw or Slytherin Harry.  
- Dark/Grey Harry in a Dark/Grey world. I won't be including anything like rape or gratuitous torture, but apart from that? People will die, people will be in shit situations and people will not be happy. I will be attempting to explore a few implications of the magical world, both in canon and in fanon.

* * *

**Prologue**

She looked down at the broken little angel sitting on the floor and wished, not for the first time, that she could hug him. Eyes as bright as emeralds stared at her through a veil of tears as he whimpered and clutched his arm. 'How could that bastard does this to a child?' she thought, disgusted at the display she had just seen. A grown man taking out the frustration from losing a promotion on his nephew! Oh how she wished that she could help her young friend, but how? She could not touch him, he was too young to look after himself and the only other person who might be able to see her was the boy's aunt - the wife of the man who did this. If she went to her, her little Harry would be hurt even more for being 'freakish'! The conundrum had tormented her for years now, ever since the night she met the boy.

* * *

_*Flashback* - Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office  
_

* * *

_Six years earlier_

_An old man bent over the desk, studying some instrument. He wasn't looking at her, as usual; she was part of the school's history and this lemon drop sucking old fart couldn't even regard her as anything more than a piece of the furniture. The portraits of the former headmasters and headmistresses looked down upon the two of them, the only sounds the obnoxious whirrings of the instruments filling the room and the ruffling of the red phoenix's feathers.  
_

_She was about to clear her throat - she had come up here for a reason, damnit - when one of the instruments started beeping and spinning. Dumbledore looked up - was that satisfaction or delight on his face - and dashed across to it, clucking over it like a mother hen. He finally turned to her.  
_

_"My dear Helena, kindly let Madam Pomfrey know that she will be having visitors soon."_

_Not even a question about why she was there. Typical. "Of course headmaster." 'Mother would so truly hate that man.'  
_

* * *

_Infirmary  
_

* * *

_"He said nothing of who they were?"  
_

_"No. He merely said to expect someone."_

_Suddenly the doors crashed open and two people stumbled in; the man with messy black hair and glasses askew on his face and the woman with piercing green eyes and red hair. Both of them carried small bundles and they all but bowled Poppy over in their haste to get them to a bed._

_"By Merlin - James? Lily?"_

_"Poppy, our boys - check on our boys!"_

_As the nurse scrambled to cast her diagnostics - inferior to the ones Mother had developed - the doors opened again and Dumbledore strode in, a concerned look upon his face. "James, Lily, what happened?"  
_

_"It - it was V-voldemort sir!"_

_"Calm down and start at the beginning James, I need to know what happened!"_

_Lily spoke without turning from her sons, for that is what the bundles were._

_"I had just put Aaron and Harry to when he came through the front door. James yelled for me to get to them, to protect them. Voldemort just knocked him down and then did the same to me. He completely ignored us after that and he went up the stairs. I went after him - I had to protect Aaron and Harry. I just got into the nursery when I heard him say - say the words. You know which ones. There was a flash of green and I got knocked on my back. When I got back up he was gone. Just gone, with the twins sitting there looking at me. I think Aaron was crying. James joined me and we picked them up. Aaron got a cut on his head I think, so did Harry." Lily grew more and more frantic as the tale progressed and was almost hysterical before James embraced her. "We came straight here, just like you told us to do if anything happened."  
_

_As she spoke, Helena drifted over to the two boys, looking down into their faces. One was squirming all over the place. He had messy auburn hair and his eyes were as blue as the sky. A curved cut rent his cheek, from the bottom of his to his jaw line. The other boy's hair was as dark as Helena's, and his eyes where a bright piercing green. He was completely silent and watched her just as she watched him. 'He looks just like - no. That was a completely different boy.' A small chubby hand reached up to her and the little boy grinned at her. It was then that she saw his mark, a lightning bolt upon his forehead, the red in stark contrast with the rest of his pale face._

_"Hello little one." she murmured, getting a glance from Pomfrey, before the matron returned to her work._

_For an instant Helena's eyes met those of the child and she gasped. She may be dead, but even she could see, no **feel** such power. It felt incredible, more real than any of the 'delicacies' she had almost tasted at countless Death Day parties or the little puff of cold a student walking through her evoked. The sensation was awe-inspiring._

_Dumbledore leaned in next to her and examined the two boys, Lily and James having finished their story. He placed his palms over both of their hearts and seemed to concentrate, before turning to his audience.  
_

_"It was Aaron! Lily, James, your son Aaron is the one it spoke of! Aaron is the Boy-Who-Lived!"_

_Helena glanced over to the other child, meeting his eyes as well. It was nothing like Harry. Sure the child had power and would probably grow up quite strong, but he was an ant compared to his brother._

_The parents were rapt with awe, looking down on Aaron. Dumbledore however was looking at Harry and Helena did **not** like the look on his face._

_"I'm afraid that I have some bad news. Young Hadrian" - 'so that's his full name' - "seems to have been damaged in the backlash. I'm sorry to say your eldest son is a squib."_

_'**What.** Just... just... **WHAT?**'_

_Helena turned to look at the man, who surely had to be insane. Harry - or Hadrian - was ten times more powerful than Aaron, at least! By Merlin he might be more powerful than Dumbledore himself - ah. She turned her gaze back to the green eyed magical powerhouse before her. Jealously was always the fall of men. It broke the Baron, it broke Headmaster Phineas Black and now it seemed it had broken Albus Dumbledore. She knew it would do no good to try and stop or correct him, it hadn't the last two times and the first cost her life._

_"I suppose we could send him to live with my sister - it would be kinder wouldn't it? For him to grow up with the muggles, not knowing about what he can't have?"_

_How could she consider such a thing, she was his mother! By Morganna, Mother hadn't done something like this to her, not even when she had stolen the cold bitch's diadem! This little boy would never be able to live away from the magical world, his accidental magic alone would be titanic! Without proper training he was sure to kill himself and break the Statute of Secrecy as well!_

_"I am sorry Lily, it's best that it's done soon. The longer you wait the harder it will be. I will take him there tonight. Is there anything I should tell your sister?"_

_"Tell her... tell her we're dead. Don't let him think we - please don't let him think that we abandoned him. Please don't let him hate us."_

_"It'll be okay Lily-flower, it's going to be okay."_

_Helena looked back down to the boy. It might be best to look in on him every now and then - just to make sure he didn't destroy everything around him._

* * *

_*End Flashback*_

* * *

Ever since that night she had visited little Harry. It was only meant to be once or twice, but then she saw what the muggles did to him. Locking a child - any child! - into a cupboard at night? Hitting him every time something 'freakish' happened - oh how she hated that word - and feeding him scraps while a little fat pig-boy was fed anything he wanted? These muggles were abominable!

"It's alright dear, it's going to be alright."

As Helena spoke Harry leaned towards her, feeling the cold chill of her ethereal body caress his face. The crying slowly stopped and the two of them stayed there, silent in their companionship.

"Miss Helen? Can you tell me the story about the school again?"

So it went almost every day. She told him stories and did her best to comfort him. The other Hogwarts ghosts threatened to have her replaced as the Ravenclaw house ghost, but she didn't care. This lonely child needed her a lot more than the students did. If she was able to admit it, she'd say that it felt good to be needed. Back at Hogwarts she was a piece of scenery; the only one who had treated her any different was _him_, and he betrayed her almost immediately once he had what he wanted. It caused her no small amount of distress when she contemplated the fact that her Harry (_and just when did he become **her** Harry?_) looked so much like the young man who decieved her.

* * *

Harry tried his best to ignore the blinding pain in his arm to listen to Miss Helen. He loved it when she told him stories, even though he couldn't tell them to anyone else. The stories - which they had to be, since didn't Uncle Vernon keep saying that none of that sort of thing was real - pulled him in. He could almost see the Great Hall filled with students, the Astronomy Tower soaring high above all else and the Forbidden Forest surrounding the castle. It was more _real _than the world he lived in, where he was forced to work constantly and was beaten if anything went wrong. Where he had to fake being slow so as to not look smarter than Dudley.

* * *

_Hogwarts - A year later._

* * *

Helena floated through the corridors, pondering the dilemma of Harry. His accidental magic was growing stronger every time it happened and so were the resulting 'punishments'. She could reveal to the boy's parents the truth; that he wasn't a squib, but she had seen them around and the way they spoiled the son that they had in their 'care' smacked to much of the Dursleys for her liking. If she were to utterly honest with herself it may have also been because she was selfish in wanting to keep Harry to herself. A small part of her feared that if he returned to his parents he would forget her. No, she needed to find someone to take the boy in, someone who knew of the magical world and could empathise with his abuse.

So it was that she was pondering this issue when the solution presented itself.

"Please my boy, reconsider! Slughorn is retiring and you are the best choice for Potions Professor!"

"Dumbledore, I've told you, tell that to Potter! He invoked the Life Debt to keep me from teaching, he says that he doesn't want me anywhere near his son!"

A small smile graced Helena's lips. _This_ she could use. Severus Snape, childhood friend to Lily Potter nee Evans, owing a Life Debt to James Potter? She recalled Snape being a rather small boy the few times she had seen him at school - his time at Hogwarts being right on the border of her memories before it was lost to the river of time like all those before him - and he had all the hallmarks of being an abused child. Slow to make friends, a Dark Slytherin despite being a muggle-raised halfblood and having trouble standing up for himself.

As the man who grew from that child swept out into the halls, robes billowing around him Helena moved up and whispered "Follow me." into his ear. Ignoring his puzzled glance she headed up a flight of stairs and into a fourth floor classroom.

"What did you want?"

Brusque and to the point. Excellent.

"What would you be willing to do to expunge your life debt?"

For a moment the man stood stock still, gaping at the ghost, clearly not expecting _this _of all things.

"How?"

_(A.N. Argh Snape is hard to write when he isn't being an antagonistic arse.)_

"You may not know this, but the Potters have another child. They that he is a squib but he most certainly is not. In their infinite wisdom and brilliance - as expected of _Gryffindors_ - they sent him to live with his aunt and uncle, both of whom hate magic. From that point onwards his life mirrors yours quite well I believe."

If anything, his jaw hung lower than before, his eyes almost bugging out. It was quite amusing actually.

"They sent a child to live with **Petunia**?"

"They did indeed. Help the boy, take him in and protect him and the Life Debt will be repaid. You may even find it rewarding in a way; he is extremely powerful and brighter than you might think. Kind as well. He is more his mother's son than his fathers in every way."

Helena could see the gears turning in his head; he just needed one more push.

"Imagine bringing him to Hogwarts in a few years time and him showing up Aaron? Imagine how you would be able to rub Potter's face in being a better father than him."

And there was the gleam she was hoping for in the sallow man's dark eyes.

"Where does he live?"


	2. Chapter 2 - A New Home

**A.N. Glad to see people are interested in what comes out of my head! Hopefully I can entertain you! Um, noob question, do I need to do the disclaimer _every_ chapter or is just the first fine? Also, sorry for how Snape turns out in this chapter. He's really freaking hard to write! Oh, and if anyone was wondering, certain characters have been aged _up_ and others have been aged _down_. I suppose I could have used an OC or two, but that just felt cheap when I was considering it. Last thing, I swear: I'm assuming only magical beings and squibs can see ghosts, since only they can see dementors and - well. That'll come later.  
**

_Last time:_

_Helena could see the gears turning in his head; he just needed one more push._

_"Imagine bringing him to Hogwarts in a few years time and him showing up Aaron? Imagine how you would be able to rub Potter's face in being a better father than him."_

_And there was the gleam she was hoping for in the sallow man's dark eyes._

_"Where does he live?"_

* * *

Severus Snape apparated onto Privet Drive with a resounding crack. Apart from a brief stop at Spinner's End to change into Muggle clothing, he had came straight here from Hogwarts. Though it was _Potter's_ brat he was going to help, at least the burden of the Life Debt was to be lifted from his shoulders, if what the Grey Lady had said was true. Though he still did not know the enigmatic ghost's agenda, freedom from the oppressive restrictions James Potter had put on Severus (and how _dare_ he do so) was worth advancing any plot. A part of Severus couldn't believe that Lily would just throw away one of her children for being a squib; it was the part that still prayed that she would forgive him for his mistakes. The more mature, pragmatic part of Snape knew that in the time since the fall of the Dark Lord Lily had grown more and more enamored with the ideal of the perfect 'Light' family and a squib child would have no place in such a family.

As he approached number 4 Privet Drive Snape couldn't help but notice the meticulous state of the garden. The roses were almost in perfect alignment with each other, the lawn was deep green and not a single blade of grass could be seen out of place. It was honestly, more reminiscent of the front lawn of the Malfoy estate than those of the surrounding houses, though here there would be no House Elves to do the gardening - ah. The boy. Didn't the Lady say their lives were paralleled? It held to reason then that he was given chores that a child should _not_ be given and punished if he did not complete them. Accidental magic was indeed the magic of desperation and a young wizard doing their utmost to please their 'guardians' might well unconsciously employ said magic to escape retribution; hadn't he once done the same? But what sort of punishments were they inflicting on the boy for him to expend his accidental magic on _gardening_ of all things? When he reached that mental dead-end of inquiry and rung the door bell, Severus Snape felt a chill run down his spine as a voice burdened with anger drifted through an opened window.

"Boy, go get the door!"

The door opened and a small mop of messy black hair moved into sight.

"Can I help you sir?"

The boy glanced up and Severus was frozen for a moment - those were _Lily's eyes_ - but he recovered quickly.

"I need to speak to your aunt and uncle. In private."

The boy stood still for a moment - Severus had the peculiar sensation of being judged - and then beckoned him in, closing the door behind him. As the boy walked away into what appeared to be the kitchen Snape couldn't help but notice that the clothes he was wearing were hanging off his body and were stained. 'Second hand clothes then.' Leaning around the door the boy obviously favoured his right arm, indicating a break. He lowered his head and sighed. It was hard to reconcile this small, obviously neglected child and the pompous self-important boy the Potters loved to parade around before the media in the Ministry and at Diagon Alley.

"There's a man who wants to talk to both of you."

A rumble of assent preceded a tub of walking lard lumbering into the hallway, trailed by a rail thin horse-faced woman. 'Ah Petunia, you haven't changed a bit.' The moment the woman saw his face, she stood rigid and the colour drained out of her face.

"Ve-Vernon! He's one of _them_!"

The lard-man's piggy little eyes narrowed onto Snape, taking in his image from top to bottom.

"Indeed I am one of _them_, but that is hardly any way to greet an old _friend_, Petunia?"

Petunia drew herself up, trembling in indignation at the familiar way this man had addressed her.

"Please leave at ONCE! That bearded old fool assured us that none of that - that _freakishness_ would come here! Bad enough he lied about Lily's brat, but I will not stand for any of you freaks coming into my home!"

Snape furrowed his brow; this was going to be more irritating than he had thought. Only the promise of freedom from that odious Life Debt kept him going on.

"The reason I have come here is that 'brat' as you put it. An... interested party has alerted me to the fact that you have _not_ given him a satisfactory home - as expected from such a dunderhead as you Petunia - so I shall be removing him immediately."

Vernon - the apparent name of the lard-man - perked up at this revelation.

"So you'll be taking him then? And not coming back?"

"I will be returning at some point to get the paperwork done, but after that I shall remove myself from the lives of such _*sniff*_ 'normal' people."

A light shone in the lard-man's eyes and he sported a loathsome grin. "Fine, fine, just take the little freak!"

Vernon lurched over to the kitchen, grabbed Harry by the arm - his _obviously broken arm _Snape noted - and yanked him in. Then, moving to the cupboard, he ripped open the door with glee.

"Your finally leaving boy, so take your trash with you!"

Harry's pain-clouded face brightened at this and he scrambled into the tiny cupboard, pulling out small broken toys, some dirty, worn out clothes and a few grubby books. After stuffing it all into a plastic rubbish bag, he moved back into the hall, looking Snape up and down with an amazed grin plastered across his face.

'No child should be **that** happy about leaving their home with a total stranger.' he mused, preparing to depart. He took the bag from Harry, pushing it into his pocket - enchanted with a Undetectable Expansion Charm of course - and beckoned Harry to follow him outside.

* * *

Harry stumbled after the strange man. He didn't know his name, but experience had taught Harry that obeying Uncle Vernon was the best choice. Out of the corner of Harry's eye, he say Helena hovering in the stairwell. Since she was smiling and nodding at him, he decided that for now, Snape was his best option.

The man kept on walking down Privet Drive with long strides, causing Harry to need to jog to keep up. The moment they were out of sight of No. 4, the man turned and grabbed onto Harry's arm. Then, for a moment the world went black as Harry felt intense pressure from every direction and the next moment the lawns and cookie-cutter housing of Privet Drive was replaced with drab asphalt streets, rundown brick houses and mills off in the distance. Harry's jaw dropped at the sudden change, not believing his eyes.

"Come on boy, I don't have time for your tardiness!"

"But - but - sir what _was_ that?"

"_That_ was apparition. Walk now, talk later!"

His questions unanswered, Harry followed the as-of-yet unknown individual. 'It was like when I got onto the school roof.' he thought, remembering the similar sensations and the small smile on Helena's face when he told her of it. 'If this man can do it... she was _happy _that he was taking me... Maybe she knows him?'

Harry's ruminations were cut short by the black-haired man moving into the yard of one of the allotments. He watched as his new guardian withdrew a length of wood from his sleeve and touched it to the door, muttering all the while. A sharp *click* soon followed and Harry stepped into the house.

* * *

Severus Snape was beginning to feel irritated, though he knew he should be making allowances. Lily had had the same questions when she had first seen magic, but he had hoped Petunia had at least told the boy _something_. Obviously not though, seeing as the boy had no idea of what a wand was or the ability of apparition.

Sighing heavily, he headed further into his childhood home, followed by Harry. He had just hung his jacket on the door knob and moved into the kitchen when he pulled up short.

"How do you like your new home Harry?"

How did she get here? How did she _know where it was_? The Grey Lady sat at his kitchen table smiling at Harry, as though such a thing was completely normal. Hell, he hadn't even known Hogwarts ghosts could leave the grounds!

"Helen!"

The boy dashed past Snape and pushed himself into the ghost's arms, smiling all the while. An uncomfortable idea occurred to Snape just then.

'Is that the closest thing he's ever had to a hug?'

It was almost unthinkable, but there he was, _snuggling_ a ghost! The feeling of coming into physical contact with the unliving was universally described as unsettling and unpleasant and somehow Harry was finding comfort in it. He and Helen - the Grey Lady's name, apparently - seemed to know each other, quite well too if Harry's reaction was any indication. In any case, the boy would be needing an explanation about pretty much everything, unless the Lady had told him part of it.

"Excuse me, but how much did you tell him?"

"Next to nothing. I reasoned it would be better to tell him when he was away from that place." she replied, a frown adorning her face.

"Tell me what Helen?"

Snape groaned. Did he really have to do this?

"Sit down Harry."

The boy rushed to comply, though he somehow endeavoured to remain in contact with Helen at all times. "Are you gonna tell me how we got here?"

Snape winced slightly. There were going to be a lot of questions, he knew. 'Remind me why I want to become a teacher again?' Luckily, he was rescued by Helen.

"To put it simply Harry, you are a wizard."

"Oh. What does that mean?"

* * *

Helena smiled lovingly down at the little boy pressed up against (partly _into_) her. He had so many questions about the world he was to be a part of, but she knew the hardest part was to come.

"Um, Mr Snape? Why are you looking after me know?"

"When I was a child I knew you mother -"

"You knew my mum! What was she like? Did you know my dad?" Harry all but yelled, bouncing up and down in his seat.

"Did - didn't your Aunt tell you about them?" Snape replied, slightly shocked by his vehemence.

"She just told me they died drunk in a car crash."

Helen flinched slightly as Snape shot a venomous glare at her. A sheepish grin crossed her face as she mouthed 'Surprise!' at him. The glare just grew colder and she knew that he would somehow, someday have revenge on her for this.

"Bo - Harry. Regardless of what your Aunt told you, your parents aren't dead."

Her heart felt like it was breaking as she watched conflicting emotions rush across her Harry's face. Shock, joy, anger and finally rejection.

"W-why didn't they want me?"

She sighed. How do you explain to a child that his parents were so stupid and shallow that they sent him away for a fault they were only _told_ he possessed? Perhaps she should have told him this years ago. At least she was telling him now.

"Harry, a _very_ powerful and _very _stupid man that they trusted told them that you were a squib - someone born to magical parents who had no magic themselves. He was entirely wrong, but it was enough for your parents to send you away. I - I was there and I heard your mother saying that they should send you to Aunt Petunia, her sister. She thought that it was better for you to live away from what you couldn't have. Though I'm sure part of it was that she wanted to focus on Aaron."

"Who was Aaron?"

'Damnit, should not of mentioned him.' Helena readied herself for an inevitable meltdown. She could see Snape out of the corner of her eye casting Imperturbable Charms on various jars, books and surfaces as he surely saw it coming as well.

"Harry, Aaron was you twin brother."

He looked up to her with wide eyes, tears welling up in their depths. "I-I have a t-t-twin brother?"

His voice ripped and tore at her heartstrings in it's pitiful state, even though she no longer had such things. 'I'm dead, by Merlin! How can he still do this to me?'

Harry looked down again, hiding underneath the fringe of his hair. "Why didn't they w-w-want m-me? Why did they keep him instead? Why didn't they care about me! Why didn't they love ME!"

The last word was accompanied by a pulse of magic that Helena felt ripple throughout her entirety, overwhelming her with a sense of betrayal and grief and knocking Snape clear out of his chair.

* * *

Snape shivered as he felt the magic. It was just like the sensation of walking through a ghost - as though he had been touched by something that couldn't be see. The experience wasn't much unlike the feeling the Dark Mark made when the Dark Lord was angry.

* * *

Harry didn't hold back his tears as he sobbed. Why should he? His mother didn't want him, his father didn't want him, they only wanted this _Aaron_. His own mother had sent him to the Dursleys. They were responsible for it all; every blow from Uncle Vernon, every time Dudley and his friends had player Harry Hunting, every time his Aunt had swung at his head with a frying pan was on them. At that very moment, in the depths of his heart, Harry swore that one day he would have a reckoning for everything he had been through and they would feel all the pain, loneliness and despair he had. He would show them just what they threw away, he would be miles better than their precious _Aaron_. His eyes lifted towards Helena and his face broke into a teary smile. At least _here_ was someone who wouldn't leave him, who wouldn't hurt him. Someone who loved him.

**A.N. Well that was hard to get through. Sorry to say, don't expect me to put out this fast all the time; I will endeavour to get a chapter out every week but it may be difficult.**

**So how was it? My favourite character to write so far is definitely Helena. Mostly because I can free-write her.  
**

**The first two chapters were quite short solely because I was setting stuff up and I found natural stopping places. The next one is a set of time-skips with small POV sections. Then it's onto Diagon Alley, where we can finally get to the actual bloody story!**

**Last thing; thought I best explain the concept of 'attunement' to you all now rather than later. Attunement is something I came up with for this story since I felt magic was too formalised and there wasn't enough 'personalisation' to it. Basically an individuals magic is focused towards a concept, making it easier to learn magic that comes under, comes from or enables that concept. For example, someone can be attuned to things like death, life, growth, destruction, love, duty, purity, tradition, determination, change, chaos and joy. Though two people attuned to the same thing can be completely different in their approach to it; a little teaser for three characters: Aragog, the Basilisk and Fawkes are all attuned to _duty_, though they all have entirely different world views. Hope that interests you slightly.  
**


	3. Chapter 3 - Darkness Growing Within

**Sorry about it having taken a while; I was working on it and well... a new version of Dwarf Fortress came out on the 7th. So... yeah, I think you guys can extrapolate where my time has been going from that.**

* * *

_Azkaban_

* * *

In a cell a short rat-like man cowered away from the bars. A cloaked figure moved past and as it left he relaxed, until the lessening all-consuming despair allowed a different form of despair in - the crushing burden of his own failures. The raging faces of James, Sirius and Remus as he was thrown into his cell kicking and screaming tormented him and the face of the one he had failed the most rose in his mind. Little Harry - made a squib because he was so weak! 'So sorry, I'm so so sorry.' The man cried himself to sleep again that night.

* * *

_Potter Manor 1988 July 31st_

* * *

Lily Potter nee Evans walked into the dining room and placed a large cake in front of her son. As James, Sirius and Aaron's friends sung, she wiped away a tear for her other child - the one she had to give up. It was for the best she reminded herself; if he had stayed with them his lack of magic would have ruined any relationship she could have had with him and he would have been left bitter like Petunia. Lily knew he deserved better than that, but losing him hurt nonetheless. Her husband couldn't understand - he was raised a Pureblood and even the Light Families sent away their squib children as a matter of course. To James, while it was awful that Harry had lost his magic, that fact that he had been sent away was just that - a fact without emotional weight. Sirius was the same and while Remus was angry about it for a time, Lily's desperate justifications mollified him as well, even though he was colder to the family now. Taking a moment to curse the betrayer Pettigrew for his part in the loss of Harry's magic, Lily hoped with all her heart that Harry was happy on his birthday.

'Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday wherever you are my dear Harry, happy birthday to you.'

* * *

Aaron watched as his mother ignored his birthday party in favour of staring off into the distance. He understood that he had a twin, but it was difficult for a ten year old to understand the pain a mother felt when separated from her child. 'He _had_ to go, he was a squib! That's how it works, Dad told me so.'

* * *

_Spinner's End 1990 - August 12th  
_

* * *

Severus Snape watched as the boy pored over the tomes. He had been at it for several hours now, consulting Snape's own extensive library before writing into a small leather bound notebook. The books he was reading included subjects as diverse as human transfiguration, beginning alchemy and the observations of some mid-sixteenth century monk on the use of unicorn blood. 'He's already gone through the book by John Dee that I got from Knockturn... Is his hunger insatiable?'

It was a valid question; Harry had been fascinated by necromancy from the moment it was explained to him as the magic of death and the dead. In his more concerned moments Snape worried about the ramifications of his borderline obsession; hadn't a similar boy invented a name and immersed himself in the corrupt power of the Dark Arts? A shudder ran through his body. Even now, some odd ten years on, he still felt the after effects of Dark Arts use. The mood swings had almost led him to striking his young ward on a number of occasions, though each time he had managed to drive the urge back. 'Helena might be encouraging him.'

The ghost was almost a constant fixture at Spinner's End, tutoring Harry on every subject that was taught at Hogwarts in the first year - now and when Helena herself attended. He had received a theoretical - since Helena could not use magic, Harry did not have a wand and Snape was unwilling to spend his time in such a manner - grounding in Runes, rudimentary enchantment, transfiguration, charms, potions and dueling. In between these lessons, Harry had worked on things such as necromancy and arithmancy. Though none of this was actual applied knowledge, Snape was certain that when he reached Hogwarts he would pick up the actual spellwork quite easily.

At times Harry seemed almost driven to learn more, but whatever it was that drove him, Snape did not know. He still only talked to Helena at length, and even then only in the privacy of his own room. With a last look at his charge Snape left to finish brewing a potion commission he had received.

* * *

Harry looked up upon Snapes' departure and returned to his studies. 'Merlin it's annoying when he stares like that. At least Helena actually helps me.' As his thoughts turned to his spectral companion Harry smiled slightly. She had been more and more time away from Hogwarts to help him despite the protests of the Hogwarts Ghosts; she had only evaded exorcism due to the fact that she was in fact the most senior of all of them. When she returned from their 'meetings' she would often rant about how useless 'Nearly-Headless Nick' and the Fat Friar were and how much the Bloody Baron's attention annoyed her. A small frown crossed his face. 'Why does the thought of the Baron being around Helena make me want to find a way to kill a ghost?'

* * *

_Greengrass Manor 1990 -August 12th  
_

* * *

Astoria brushed her hair as she sat at her dressing table, fuming over the difference between her and her sister's birthday parties. Astoria just got some books and maybe a new dress if she was lucky while Daphne got jewellery and whatever clothes she wanted! 'I wish I was the first born.' Noticing that she was just tangling her hair in her anger, she put the brush back down with a sigh. It wasn't that she was neglected or anything, she was just sick and tired of being passed over for everything by Daphne! If someone had candy, it was offered to Daphne. If someone their age came over, they deferred to Daphne. If anything good happened at all, Daphne would get it first! Turning to look out of her window, Astoria couldn't help but feel that even when Daphne left for Hogwarts it would be no different. The admiration and attention would just follow Daphne to Hogwarts and Astoria wouldn't even be noticed. Maybe when _she_ went she might be able to make friends or even find a boy and they would fall in love and marry in a beautiful wedding and havebeautifulchildrenandlivehappilyeverafter!

* * *

Daphne shook her head as a piercing squeal erupted from Astoria's bedroom. Her sister could be so weird.

* * *

_France, Delacour Mansion, 1990 - August 12th_

* * *

Rousing herself from her bed, Gabrielle once again stared in her mirror in consternation. In her head she knew that her sister was older and therefore more *ahem* developed, but every time a boy (sometimes girls) looked at Fleur and payed absolutely no attention to her, she felt ugly. She had tried explaining it to her mother, but Apollonia was an only child and couldn't understand. Her father Jean (?) did his best to listen to her problems, but for one thing he wasn't a girl and second he was not a veela; as a veela if there was one thing she was meant to be it was beautiful and Gabrielle felt as though she couldn't even get that right! Her older sister was always prettier, always smarter, always better in every single way. How was she meant to compete?

With a crack the family's house elf Lente appeared and informed her of breakfast being ready. With a last look in the mirror at the countless imperfections only she could see, Gabrielle went to join her family.

* * *

Apollonia watched as her despondent younger daughter shuffled into the room. Her poor dear was so young, yet she had the feelings of a teenage girl - she had not yet come into the bloom of her veela abilities felt self-conscious for the perceived fault. The fact that Fleur already had boy after boy chasing after her would just make it worse. The concerned mother shook her head, wishing that her youngest could just be a child and leave thoughts of _needing _to be beautiful to the future.

* * *

**Setting up the main/supporting cast and giving some small idea what they're like. Onto Diagon Alley, wands, familiars and more!**

**You know what, I'm having trouble deciding if Harry is to go into Slytherin or Ravenclaw, so I'll leave it up to one of you: if one of you guys can give me a review/PM telling me (correctly) one of the central themes of this fic I'll let you choose - if no one gets it I'll just flip a coin or something. Small hint - 3 sections of this chapter have it displayed pretty well and I more or less come out and say it in the first chapter. So if you want to have a hand in where the fic goes here's your chance!**

**Oh, almost forgot! Really happy with the showing of approval I've gotten! It took me weeks after coming up with the idea for this fic to just register on , and longer to actually commit to posting the first chapter. I was incredibly nervous about how it would be recieved and now I gotta say I'm glad I grew a pair and posted it! Thanks to everyone who read, double thanks to those who faved/followed and special thanks to:**

**Thundramon  
T-B-R  
autumngold  
Penny is wise  
vincentiusnatalus  
flame55  
robert32514  
Le Diablo Blanc2  
Man of Constant Sorrow  
Dyani91  
mwinter1  
geetac  
Average Weird (negative feedback is still feedback!)  
**

**for posting reviews. Adios!**

***runs back to Dwarf Fortress 0.40.01***


	4. NEWS

Sorry guys for taking so long, but the next chapter will be a bit longer; I'm doing my best to get it done, but I made the mistake of planning out everything that was gonna happen beforehand - in contrast to my prior method of writing by the seat of my pants with only bare-bones notes. Now that I have a - how do you say - 'ironclad' outline I'm having trouble fitting the story in. But don't worry, I haven't given up and as an apology the next time I update - sometime this week or next hopefully - I'll upload **two **chapters! Hopefully that will mollify any anger/disappointment you feel towards me.

Gamerlord out.

P.S. Thanks to justsumwhitedude for that review! Whenever I start to flounder in frustration and despair I give it another read and I get going again!


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